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I have a question for the server type techies that lurk on here.
I have a new server its a HP 32gb of ram Xeon 1220 it came with 2012r2.
I also have a workstation 16 gb ram core i7 4790k ,pretty good spec thing that I basically take cad models into and set up for CFD though its not a CAD specific box.
The server was going to go somewhere and store files on it, assist in the odd bit of CFD using the cores on the XEON, Then I read about virtualizing things
Does this mean I could run a copy of Windows 7 virtually for doing CAD and prep work on the server and not need to use the little CAD box, it really doesn't make any sense what exactly virtualization does, am I assuming rightly? It allows you not to have a physical machine in a sense you almost get 2 machines out of 1 piece of physical hardware?
That's essentially what you can do yes, we have a server box running 8 servers of different flavours and around 4 XP/Win 7 machines, mainly a test and staging system though, but it does have quad processors with 96GB RAM and 4TB storage.....
Look no further than VMWare if you ant to virtulise, they do software you can point at the workstation and clone to port into your VM environment, works well.
Thanks tragically1969 I have been scratching my tiny bonce, I will look into this VMWare as all I have seen in the 2012 server docs is that it says HYPERVisor is included but gee it sure does get complex.
Quick edit - exactly what I want to do http://www.vmware.com/uk/products/workstation/features.html
Server 2012 R2 includes Hyper-V, which is Microsofts equivilent of VM ware. You can enable it under the add roles and features and then create a new VM from the Hyper-V manager.
These links might help:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831531.aspx
http://www.howtogeek.com/196158/how-to-create-and-run-virtual-machines-with-hyper-v/
VWWare Workstation works really well, full version is not that much to buy either.
Is the CAD GPU heavy?
GPUs in servers are very very low spec (unless specifically designed for servers, like Telsa).
Add in the network lag between the sever and your workstation.....
I would say although it'll be [i]possible[/i], I wouldn't recommend it.
(Disclaimer : Been using virtual tech for about 10+ years now...)
I'd echo what xiphon said. CAD typically will be using a lot of openGL/DirectX calls to the GPU, and having a virtualisation layer between the GPU and your OS will make these slower anyway, that's assuming that you have a good GPU in the server (it'll ship with something terrible on board, after all, a server doesn't need 3d graphics). In addition the way VMWare workstation makes the underlying hardware present itself, I'm not even sure that and CAD software would see the GPU properly.
Possible, but one of those not advisable things.
If your CAD is GPU heavy and you want to virtualise on the server there are three solutions;
1. Use VMware Workstation or Oracle VirtualBox and enable 3D support - I doubt this will be up to serious CAD work. But is easy to set up.
2. Under Hyper-V on Server 2012 R2 you can use RemoteFX with a powerful GPU installed in the server to give the VM decent 3D acceleration. I believe this works well with properly supported Nvidia or AMD cards.
3. Under VMware ESXi or Proxmox (KVM/QEMU) you can use PCI pass through to a GPU and USB ports dedicated to the VM - this can be quite complex to setup but gives almost native performance as the VM is directly using the GPU.
Options 1 & 2 means the least work to setup the hypervisor and means the base Server 2012 R2 install stays as is. Option 3 requires the Hypervisor to be installed in the bare metal, and your monitor and keyboard/mouse are going to be sat near to the server to be directly attached.
I believe Xen are now offering a 3D acceleration solution similar (and probably better than Hyper-V's RemoteFX), but I have not looked into it yet.